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Kym Marsh has opened her heart in a painfully honest interview about the realities of having her seven-month-old daughter Polly after the tragic stillbirth of her son Archie at 22 weeks in 2009.
Speaking to New! magazine, Coronation Street actress Kym says that she strongly believes 'there's an essence of Archie' in baby Polly, who was born seven weeks early, and explains that she keeps her little boy's ashes in a box on her bedside table so he can be close to her.
'When people scatter ashes they generally do it somewhere the person enjoyed being,' she says. 'But with Archie, we never got to find out what sort of little person he was going to be. The only place I knew he was meant to be was with us, and that's where he's staying.'
Kym also admits that having a baby at 35 is very different to when she had her older children David, 16, and Emily, 13:
'I was a lot younger for a start,' she says, 'I had more energy. But what I lack in energy I've gained in patience. I realise how lucky I am, because when I was younger I hadn't had to go through what I've been through since. You take having a baby for granted at that age.'
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Former Hearsay singer Kym was just 18 when she fell pregnant with David - something she says she would 'hate' to happen to Polly.
'I'd hate it. It's not something I'd recommend. For me, it happened, and I was fortunate I had a lot of support and obviously I wouldn't change it for the world. But it's not what you'd choose for your kids.'
And she says her 'beautiful family' is all she needs right now and is in no rush to marry her actor fiancé Jamie Lomas:
'We aren't even thinking about that at the moment - we aren't bothered if we do or don't really. We're engaged, own a house together and have a beautiful family, so that's all we need.'
(We've just found out Kym's tattoos are each of her children's names in Sanskrit.)
Read the full story in this week's new! magazine - out today.